Solar eclipse of December 2, 1937


An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit between Thursday, December 2 and Friday, December 3, 1937, with a magnitude of 0.9184. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus. An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 18 hours before apogee, the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
The duration of annularity at maximum eclipse was 12 minutes, 0.33 seconds in the Pacific Ocean. It was the longest annular solar eclipse since December 25, 1628, but the Solar eclipse of December 14, 1955 lasted longer.
Annularity was visible from outlying islands in Japan on December 3, including part of Ogasawara Village and South Seas Mandate, and also Teraina and Tabuaeran in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, a colony of the United Kingdom, on December 2.
A partial eclipse was visible for parts of East Asia, northern Oceania, Hawaii, and western North America. Part of these areas are east of the 180th meridian, seeing the eclipse on December 2, and the rest west of the 180th meridian, seeing the eclipse on December 3.

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
EventTime
First Penumbral External Contact1937 December 2 at 20:05:29.6 UTC
First Umbral External Contact1937 December 2 at 21:14:57.2 UTC
First Central Line1937 December 2 at 21:18:43.1 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact1937 December 2 at 21:22:30.7 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction1937 December 2 at 23:03:27.6 UTC
Greatest Eclipse1937 December 2 at 23:05:45.1 UTC
Greatest Duration1937 December 2 at 23:07:42.3 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction1937 December 2 at 23:11:03.1 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact1937 December 3 at 00:49:00.8 UTC
Last Central Line1937 December 3 at 00:52:48.8 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact1937 December 3 at 00:56:35.2 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact1937 December 3 at 02:06:02.7 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude0.91842
Eclipse Obscuration0.84349
Gamma0.43886
Sun Right Ascension16h35m02.2s
Sun Declination-22°00'36.6"
Sun Semi-Diameter16'13.6"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.9"
Moon Right Ascension16h35m06.6s
Moon Declination-21°37'01.0"
Moon Semi-Diameter14'42.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax0°53'57.6"
ΔT24.0 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
November 18
Descending node 		December 2
Ascending node
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 115		Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 141

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 1937

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 141

Inex

Triad